Quote of the day:
"We will continue to protect the children in our communities by vigorously prosecuting individuals possessing these images." -- U.S. Attorney Scott Schools, on a former university educator sentenced to 63 months in prison for possessing more than 5,000 images of child pornography

1. Editor's Note: Combating The Online Threat To Kids

I was giving a lot of thought to the issue of protecting kids when they use computers or go online, then three news items highlighted the pervasiveness of the threat, the vileness of the predators, and the value of aggressive enforcement.

Pervasive threat: In the past couple years there's been an endless stream of lost laptops and personal data. In the United Kingdom, the National Health Services Office reports the theft of three laptops with the names, addresses, and birth dates of 11,500 kids between 8 months and 8 years old.

Tough enforcement: Florida has introduced legislation that could result in 15-year prison terms for those who distribute child pornography or deceive children in order to abuse them. That's a threefold increase over the current prison term.

What does it all mean to you?

The health care industry is prolific when it comes to personal data gathering, but I now think twice about how much information I submit, particularly when it's clear the health care organization has no need for certain pieces of data being requested. It's obviously up to parents to worry about keeping this data from getting into the wrong hands, since those gathering it are incapable of doing so. What steps have you considered or taken to limit the sharing of private information about your children? Can technology be part of the solution, rather than the problem?

The sexagenarian dirtbag's case raises the question: How can we more quickly identify, isolate, and punish those of his ilk before they do more than just gather porn?

Florida is setting a strong example of how to deal with the problem. Are there other states using the law to deter online predators or other measures being taken that will help keep kids safe?

Send me your thoughts in e-mail; I'll gather the most insightful responses and share them in the days to come.

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